Sports

Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ indoor track teams will lean on the experience and stamina of their distance runners, the development of sprinters, and skill of the throwers as they strive to succeed this winter. Coach Doug Russell has more than 100 competitors in the program and, given the numbers and what he’s seen from returning athletes, the potential is there for the Nighthawks to be strong across the board.

Newtown High School’s wrestling team has a new leader as former Newtown Youth Wrestling Association Coach Chris Bray takes over and is joined by first-year NHS assistant Mike McKeever. “I’m very excited. It’s like I’m regaining my guys,” said Bray, noting that he’s reacquainted with many of his former youth grapplers, some of whom he’s coached for as many as eight years.

The Newtown Youth Basketball (NYBA) family is at it again. In efforts to achieve “Sportsmanship with Citizenship” the NYBA representatives have been doing everything they can to help out the community. They have held food drives, raked leaves, and hosted an event at a high school game for senior citizens.

Several racers — car and motocross — of a variety of ages are making names for themselves with standout performances on the tracks. The season heated up during the summer months and continued to stay busy for some competitors right through Thanksgiving.

Newtown High School’s football team nearly erased a three-touchdown deficit but came up just short in a tough-to-swallow 35-33 loss to visiting Ridgefield in their Class LL state playoff quarterfinal round game at Blue & Gold Stadium on December 3.

Newtown High School’s football team will host Ridgefield in the quarterfinal round of the Class LL state playoffs at Blue & Gold Stadium tonight (December 3). Kickoff is set for 6:30 pm. Admission is $5 for students and $8 for adults.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Football Committee has approved a request from Newtown High Athletic Director Gregg Simon that if the Nighthawks advance to the Class LL title game, it will be played Friday, December 13. The CIAC typically schedules one championship on Friday and the remaining three on Saturday. With December 14 being the first anniversary of the events of 12/14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mr Simon had requested a change of game date for his team.

Runners braved the cold — temperatures were in the 20s but it felt like the teens with the wind chill factor — to participate in the Fourth Annual Turkey Trot Road Race on Thanksgiving morning. Newtown’s Zach Schwartz earned first place by completing the hilly course in a time of 15:50.70. The course started at Hawley Elementary School, and included a downhill stretch on Main Street past the flagpole, and the finish at Newtown Middle School. A steep hill on Schoolhouse Road at the start of the course and another long hill on Grand Place at the end of the course made the competitors earn their stuffing — along with everything else on the table for their traditional feasts — by running the 3.1-mile course. The top finishers — including age category winners — took home trophies and large pumpkin pies during an awards ceremony. Proceeds from the 5K run through town benefit the Cyrenius H Booth Library. Results may be found at thelastmileracing.com.